A NICE tan? According to a Dorset specialist who sees the consequences of people frying their flesh in the sun, there is no such thing - unless it comes out of a bottle.

"Skin cancer is getting more and more common, and Dorset has the highest incidence in the country of melanoma," warned Dexter Perry, a consultant surgeon at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

"Tanning is inflammation in the skin, the body protecting itself, and burning is the extreme of tanning. The damage is not reversible. Sunbeds also promote skin cancers. As a rule, we don't agree with them."

Fashion designer Coco Chanel made suntans fashionable in the 1920s, when sporting one was a sign that you were rich enough to travel.

And although the masses soon followed suit, the trend has endured - at a growing cost to people's health.

Skin cancer is now the UK's most common kind of cancer, with more than 70,000 cases a year. The most serious malignant form, melanoma, affects more than 7,000 people and causes around 1,600 deaths each year.

Mr Perry, chairman of the Dorset Melanoma Group, is using National Sun Awareness Week to encourage everyone to take more care.

"One of our aims has been to improve awareness and use of lotions on the beach. To have too much sun in this country is easy, and people are just not worried enough," he said.

While he admits the sun raises vitamin D levels and lifts mood, he cautioned: "It's good for you in the way that whisky is good for you: in small amounts. The sun ages people. An 18-year-old Australian female has the same age skin as a 30-year-old north European."

Although the damage caused by the sun usually takes 25 to 30 years to turn into cancer, he believes no-one can afford to becomplacent. "I've had several 20 to 30-year-olds who have had it quite badly. Skin cancer is the most common kind in the under 35s, and the fastest-growing cancer in the country," he said.

One victim is grandfather Tony Collins, of Christchurch.

"I've always been full of moles and freckles. One day I came home from work and my wife said 'You've cut your back'.

"I put Germolene and a plaster on it and it just seemed to heal up. About a year later, I realised it was going blue around the edges."

Retired builder Mr Collins, 69, was referred to the Royal Bournemouth and diagnosed as having a melanoma. "When Mr Perry first said what it was, I was in shock. He said it was very serious."

Mr Collins had an operation to remove the cancer from his shoulder. Two years later, he had another early melanoma removed from his lower back. He was the first patient to benefit from a new piece of equipment funded by the Sunshade Appeal, a dermascope, which allows specialists to monitor suspect moles.

"No-one even thought about the danger of the sun when I was younger," said Mr Collins. "I was always out in shorts and T-shirts and I had a suntan virtually all year round. I would never burn, so I didn't use sun cream."

Mr Perry's advice is to avoid sunburn and deep tanning by using high factor creams, seeking shade between 11am and 3pm, and covering up.

Mr Collins now plasters himself with factor 60 sun cream, wears a hat and long sleeves outdoors, and has check-ups every three months.

"I think I'm lucky, but I don't push it. I always say if you don't take any notice of a professional, you're absolutely stupid," he said.

The Daily Echo and Advertiser are backing the Macmillan Appeal for Dorset, which aims to raise £600,000 for four new posts, including a skin cancer nurse specialist at the Royal Bournemouth.

To make a donation or offer support, contact Valerie Wallace or Dawn Hooper on 01747 821669 or click here to email Valerie